Social | ማህበራዊ ህይወት

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Ethiopia May Delay Joining WTO in 2015; Cites Competition

(May 28, 2014, (ADDIS ABABA))--Ethiopia may delay plans to join the World Trade Organization in 2015 if the country is required to liberalize its tightly regulated telecoms and banking industries sooner than it would like, the trade minister said.

Kebede Chane told lawmakers late on Tuesday that member countries had raised dozens of questions with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's government, focusing on the time frame for opening up the service sector to international competition.

Ethiopia's fast-growing market of 90 million people has lured foreign investors from Sweden, China and Turkey to its manufacturing sector. But laws deny outside firms access to areas viewed domestically as cash-cows or politically sensitive.

Washington, which wants Ethiopia to allow more competition, said it was committed to renewing its African Growth and Opportunities Act with Addis Ababa, an accord that gives Ethiopia-made textiles preferential access to U.S. markets.

"A lot of issues are being raised regarding the service sector," Kebede said in parliament, referring to the telecoms, banking and power industries. "We are being asked to clarify our timetable for privatizing these sectors." Read more from Voice of America »